1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to 2-nonenal, and 2-nonenol, woody flavor compounds found to be useful in the area of flavor note alteration whether by the enhancement of flavor or flavor notes that are characteristic in a substance, by modification of a flavor or flavor note from a less to a more desirable one, or by the complete or partial masking of a flavor or flavor note. Still more particularly, the invention relates to incorporation of the above-mentioned compounds and mixtures threeof in food to reduce the caramel, acid and sour flavor of food, and modify and improve the green, earthy and buttery notes of coffee, and add a desirable woody, flavor note to foodstuffs.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the field of flavor enhancement, it has been general practice to employ synthetic and naturally isolated compounds and compositions to enhance and/or mask the flavor of foodstuffs. The enhancement of flavor is extremely complex, each individual flavor containing literally hundreds of compounds, each of which produces, to some degree, a flavor impact. In general, the isolation of a single flavor does not allow one to predict eqivalent flavors, since compounds of greatly differing structure have been found to produce approximately the same flavor character, while compounds of similar structure frequently differ appreciably in taste. Consequently, the identification of desirable flavor components requires synthesis and trial of individual candidates until compounds are identified which have desirable flavor notes.
In the area of flavor enhancement of coffee flavored foodstuffs, especially soluble spray dried and freeze dried coffee and regular coffee, thousands of compounds have been screened over the years in an attempt to isolate desirable components of coffee flavor. For many years, coffee technologists have searched for a flavor enhancing compound which would produce the flavor note generally described by experts as woody.
Trans-2-nonenal and trans-2-nonenol are old compounds, but their presence in coffee has not apparently been reported.
Trans-2-nonenal is formed from the oxidative fission of the hydroperoxide of methyl oleate and is found in the essential oil of Achasma walang Val and in cranberries, cucumbers and carrots. 2-nonenal is suggested as a GRAS substance among many others in Food Technology, Vol. 24, pp 533-41, May 1970.
Synthesis of trans-2-nonenol, trans-2-nonenal and its acetals have been reported in the literature.
Organoleptically, we suspected that either trans-2-nonenal or trans-2-nonenol were present in certain fractions of coffee, such as percolated, roasted and ground brew, roasted coffee oil, and steam generated roasted and ground coffee aroma. The similarity of the woody flavor of these coffee fractions and trans-2-nonenal and trans-2-nonenol is apparent to expert tasters.
We have recently found trans-2-nonenal to be present in Columbian green and roasted coffee as well as aroma fractions of roasted coffee.
The presence of woody compounds, which are the subject of this invention, in soluble coffee, especially spray dried soluble, is unlikely since flavor experts organoleptically do not detect a woody flavor or aroma in these coffees.
Trans-2-nonenal is characterized by flavor experts to have an unpleasant, rancid fat flavor when tasted at conventional flavor concentrations of 50 ppm or higher. Trans-2-nonenol has similar fatty characteristics as does cis-2-nonenol. The acetals and esters have a fatty flavor but at much higher levels exceeding one part per million. Aroma quality is judged as pungent and unpleasant at the fatty flavor concentrations.